Chapter Forty-Nine: Sowing Discord, Plotting to Overwhelm the Few with the Many

He turned his face to the side, actually agreeing with Jiang Huan’s suggestion. “It’s not a bad thing for Miss Jiang to be so cautious. Here’s what we’ll do: Miss Jiang and I will get out to check, Old Liu, you drive slowly and watch for our signals.”

Jiang Huan, having been named, found herself in a difficult position—especially after Chunmei’s earlier complaints. The idea had been hers, so if she now sat back and did nothing, it would be hard to justify.

Resolving herself, she stood up and moved toward the door. Old Liu popped it open for her, and she immediately stepped outside, put on her goggles, and walked to the front of the vehicle to inspect the road ahead.

Liu Xiuguo followed a minute later, jogging to catch up with her. Before he could say anything, Jiang Huan spoke first: “Focus on the inspection. If you have anything to say, save it for when we’re back in the car or after we’re done.”

Her words left Liu Xiuguo no choice but to close his mouth. He withdrew his attention from her and concentrated on the road ahead. After a while, the car’s snail’s pace and the complete lack of incident began to stir discontent among those inside.

“Why do we have to listen to that woman? She doesn’t seem all that special,” someone grumbled.

“I heard even Wu Gang has to give her some respect,” said another.

“Who knows if that respect wasn’t won in bed,” someone else sneered.

Chunmei, hearing this speculation, suddenly covered her mouth. “You—you actually know about that?”

The speaker, accustomed to running their mouth, hadn’t expected to hit the mark. “Well, what else could it be? She’s a woman, doesn’t look like she could carry or lift, so what else can she do?”

Chunmei sighed, putting on the airs of a wronged elder sister. “You see things clearly. I didn’t notice this at first and ended up offending her. Look, she’s been targeting me the whole way.”

She earnestly warned the others not to provoke Jiang Huan. “She even beat up a married couple once, and they had to pay her in survival supplies. These things are just tips for staying alive—just be careful.”

The group expressed their contempt, but a little boy sucking on a lollipop asked curiously, “Hey? But you’re the one who keeps talking to her, and she’s clearly said she doesn’t want to talk to you. Is that what you call targeting? Isn’t she allowed to refuse?”

“Besides, Jiang Huan’s always been pretty quiet. Never saw her start any trouble. If anyone’s been pestering, it’s you. And she’s never hit you, has she?”

The boy’s blunt words nearly made Chunmei choke on her own spit. “What do you know, you little brat?”

“I’ve been in love twice already, of course I know stuff. Hmph, I’m the prince of popularity,” he retorted.

Chunmei told him to shut up, claiming that listening to adult matters would stunt his growth. The boy glanced at Chunmei’s short, squat figure, then at his own lanky five-foot-seven frame, and fell silent for a moment. He was twelve and already five-foot-seven—was that short?

Outside, Jiang Huan suddenly signaled for the car to stop. Once it was stationary, she used her stick to prod at an unusual snowdrift she’d noticed.

With a crack, her stick hit something hard. Sweeping sideways, she uncovered several hooks—seemingly just scrap and debris, but each sharp enough to puncture a tire.

She tossed the stick aside and looked at Liu Xiuguo across from her. “Get a few more people out here to sweep the area together, take turns. The wind’s strong; I’ll go back inside now.”

Liu Xiuguo nodded at her and followed her back to the car to report the situation.

The two of them boarded one after the other. As Jiang Huan passed the front seats, a man’s shoulder brushed her thigh. She paid it no mind and moved away, but the man wouldn’t let it go. “What are you pretending for?”

Now Jiang Huan sensed something was wrong. “What do you mean by that?”

“What do I mean? I mean nothing.” The man made a show of shrugging and pulling faces at his companion, the two of them sharing a knowing smirk.

After sitting down, Jiang Huan couldn’t shake the feeling that everyone on the bus was staring at her.

Was she imagining it?

“All right, everyone, listen up,” Liu Xiuguo announced. “Miss Jiang’s suspicions were well-founded. We found nails in the road. We didn’t see anyone lying in wait, but if we keep driving like this, something’s bound to happen. Here’s the plan: everyone will get out in pairs to sweep a path as wide as the vehicle. Each pair will check two hundred meters. Pair up according to your seats.”

Naturally, since he and Jiang Huan had already gone out together, their seatmates were paired up for this round.

The boy beside Jiang Huan sighed, clearly annoyed.

The assignments were made quickly, and the group used this method to clear the road segment by segment. When the last two teams reported no further obstacles, the vehicle finally made it back to the compound without incident.

As Jiang Huan was getting out, she noticed someone heading directly for her without any intention of stepping aside. She jumped from the last two steps of the bus and moved out of the way.

“Damn,” muttered the man who’d earlier brushed against her thigh, grabbing onto the bus as his body lurched downward. If he hadn’t reacted quickly, he’d have hit the ground hard.

He glared up at her. “Jiang Huan! Are you out of your mind? Why’d you jump off the bus like that? Nearly made me fall!”

Jiang Huan frowned. “I got off the steps my own way—what’s it got to do with you? No one told you to lean into me. If you fell, that’s your own fault.”

He leapt down after her. “Who told you to get off like that, huh? Acting like an idiot. If Wu Gang hadn’t grabbed a compound before me, I’d have been more than a match for you before the apocalypse.”

Without hesitation, Jiang Huan raised her stick and struck him on the shoulder. “You’re the one acting crazy. Cool off and calm down.”

Already furious, the man swung his fist at her head. Jiang Huan dodged, and he immediately tried to kick her in the waist. She caught his leg, stepped back with his momentum, then yanked him behind her. He fell headfirst to the ground, clutching his throbbing tailbone, dropping all pretense.

“Stop pretending, you filthy thing,” he spat. “Still acting all prim and proper here.”

At last, Jiang Huan realized what had been bothering her. She wasn’t in a hurry anymore; she kicked him hard where he lay. “I don’t care what you say, but if I hear it again, you’ll lose that mouth of yours.”

“What’s your problem, bullying people like this?”

A group who had been unloading fish from the school bus saw what happened and came over, surrounding Jiang Huan. “You need to give us an explanation for this. Just because you’re Wu Gang’s woman, you think you’re special?”

“If this keeps up, we’re leaving this dump. It’s the apocalypse and you’re still playing favorites.”

“Don’t believe for a second that Wu Gang won’t take us martial artists over you. Who do you think you are?” All manner of ugly words were hurled her way, each person claiming the mantle of justice and demanding Jiang Huan be punished.

Liu Xiuguo stepped forward, raising a hand to calm them. “Let’s all settle down. If you have something to say, don’t start threatening people here. Still, Miss Jiang, you did hit one of our own—shouldn’t you give us an explanation?”

Chunmei quickly slunk away to watch the show, the corners of her mouth twitching.

Jiang Huan saw that the nearest of them was less than a meter away. She glanced around at the seven or eight people openly hostile toward her.

Her face grew cold. “So you want to gang up on me?”